The Battle of Shiloh
After a bleak winter that had proved tremendously unsettling to the Southern cause, spring 1862 brought hope that the Confederates in the west might redeem their losses. Johnston concentrated his defeated forces near Corinth, Mississippi, for an offensive into Tennessee. He had pleaded all winter for reinforcements, but none were forthcoming until March, when he was able to muster some 40,000 troops to engage the enemy. Realizing that the Federals possessed superior numerical strength, the...
John Beatty a Union
In many ways, John Beatty typified the common soldier of the Union army, and his journal details army life in the Western Theater throughout the early years of the war. Beatty was born on 16 December 1828 near Sandusky in the western region of Ohio a region known for its strong anti-slavery sentiments. At the outbreak of war, he raised a company of local volunteers, which joined the 3rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment. When the unit was mustered into service, Beatty, recently promoted to...
The Confederate counteroffensive
During the summer of 1862, in the absence of offensive Union strikes, the Confederates seized the opportunity to take the war back into the Upper South states of Tennessee and Kentucky. Besides, the federals had held the upper hand long enough in those states that civilians might desire Confederate redemption, particularly in light of the fact that Northern authorities were directing their armies to strike at the institution of slavery. About the same time that Halleck left the west, so too did...
Georgia
soon as the war broke out. Some 700,000 men mustered into the Northern armies during the initial months of the war. Most enlisted for three years' service. Out of approximately 1 million white males of military age. the Confederate Congress called on 500,000 men to enlist, which inspired hundreds of thousands to muster into service. Roughly 50 percent signed up for three years and the other half enlisted for 12 months. Companies of 100 soldiers constituted the primary unit of organization on...
Info Mez
punish the rebels. On 12 September, his greatest fear was that the rebels would escape to Virginia unscathed. Late that afternoon the President urged McClellan not to let Lee 'get off without being hurt.' The next day, in an incredible stroke of luck, Union soldiers rummaging through abandoned Confederate camps at Frederick found a copy of Lee's operational blueprint. The document quickly made its way to Union headquarters, where McClellan instantly grasped its importance. Turning to a...
The siege of Vicksburg
While Johnston was being reinforced by troops from Tennessee and South Carolina, Grant collected his troops and, thanks to Halleck in Washington, also received reinforcements. Pemberton, meanwhile, was contemplating a way out of Vicksburg. Realizing that attempting to evacuate the city would not only be futile, but also give the Federals complete control of the Mississippi, Pemberton chose to stay and try to outlast the siege. Anxious to capitalize on his string of successful operations and...
The Union campaign on the Mississippi
Southern hopes of redeeming the western losses had been significantly dashed by the new year. The Union army was now poised to move against Chattanooga. One demoralized Confederate remarked, 'I am sick and tired of this war, and I can see no prospects of having peace for a long time to come, I don't think it ever will he stopped by fighting, the Yankees can't whip us and we can never whip them.' Lincoln was so impressed by the victory that he later confided to Rosecrans, 'you gave us a hard...
The Battle of Stones River
Some 300 miles 480km northeast of Vicksburg, Rosecrans replaced Buell in late October 1862. The army became known once again as the Army of the Cumberland. Rosecrans's nickname, 'Old Rosy,' was an accurate characterization of his temper. Red-cheeked, affable, and energetic, Rosecrans was a favorite among the soldiers. Slovenliness infuriated him and he impressed soldiers by purging his command of incompetents. 'Everything for the service, nothing for individuals,' was his motto. Still, he was...
Army life
Because Civil War soldiers were extensions of their local communities, they adopted symbols, uniforms, names, and flags reflective of these prewar associations that gave a unit an identity. Several Northern units adopted the Zouave uniform worn by French troops. It consisted of a red turban Lew Wallace, famous after the Civil War as the author of Ben Hur, commented about the Zouave uniforms of the 11th Indiana Regiment, which bore his name as the 'Wallace Zouaves' 'There was nothing of the...
Strengths and weaknesses of the Union and the Confederacy
The North entered the war with seemingly-decisive advantages in almost every measurable category. This has led to a common perception, often rooted in analysis that begins with the Confederate surrender at Appomattox and works backwards, that the South faced such overwhelming odds as to make victory impossible. A corollary to this idea suggests that the Confederacy managed to fight as long as it did only because of superior generalship and a gallant effort on the part of its common folk inside...
Battle of Chancellorsville
The strategic initiative rested with Hooker, who developed an impressive plan. He proposed holding Lee's attention at Fredericksburg with about 40,000 men under John Sedgwick, while several corps made a rapid march up the Rappahannock to turn the rebel left and get in Lee's rear. Most of the army's cavalry would ride towards Richmond, cutting Lee's lines of communication with the Confederate capital. The turning column would have to move through an area south of the Rappahannock and Rapidan...
Battle of Fredericksburg
Burnside doubted his capacity for high command. At 38 years old, he could look back on a largely unexceptional career. He graduated from West Point in 1847 and served a few uneventful years in the army before resigning to enter civilian life. Trying unsuccessfully to market a carbine he had designed while in military service, he later worked for the same railroad that employed his friend McClellan. In 1861, he led a brigade at First Bull Run before winning several victories along the North...
Federals and Confederates in camp and in battle
Three million men served in the Union and Confederate armies, the majority of whom enlisted during the first two years of the war. They hailed from widely disparate backgrounds. Muster rolls reveal more than 100 pre-war occupations for Confederate soldiers and more than 300 for their northern counterparts. The 19th Virginia Infantry, for example, counted among its original members 302 farmers, 80 laborers, 56 machinists, 24 students, 14 teachers, ten lawyers, three blacksmiths, two artists, a...
From First Manassas to Chancellorsville
After the secession of Virginia and the transfer of the Confederate capital to Richmond, both sides sought to mobilize men and resources and devise their military strategies. The North faced the prospect of mounting an active campaign to compel the Confederate states to return to the Union, while the Confederacy had the easier task of responding to northern movements. If Lincoln and his government proved unable to launch a major offensive, the Confederacy would win its independence by default....